“It was meant to be,” said Guzman, an Austin resident. “We had caught the five fish, and I put in (life-keeping) formula every hour, and it kept the fish healthy. ...That was the .01 edge that we had — maintaining the fish well, to be healthy.”

Guzman and Roberts, of 2nd Squadron, 38th Cavalry Regiment, 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, weighed in about an hour after the eventual runners-up’s tally, and drew a stunned, collective gasp from the crowd.

While Ware, a Jewett resident, acknowledged Guzman deserved the win, he wanted a re-weigh.

“I’m not going to get it though,” he said. “It must be Bill’s lucky day. ...He caught a 9-pounder.”

The federal shutdown forced last-minute team reassignments, and Roberts — a hobby fisherman — learned of his partner on Friday night.

“When I paired up with him, they told me he was a two-time winner, and I was like, ‘Oh, hell yeah,’” Roberts said.

But Roberts hooked the pair’s biggest catch.

“It was surreal,” he said. “I’ve never caught a fish that big, or a bass that big. It was the time of my life, a once-in-a-lifetime thing. ...Weather didn’t affect us.”

Holmes, of Division West’s 166th Aviation Brigade, was glad to fish after the shutdown.

“They did a great job in a short time to turn this back on and get the turnout that they did,” he said. “We caught fish pretty much all day. It was rough, cold, but it was fun.”

Holmes and Ware shared $2,000 for docking second place, and might’ve sparked a friendship.

“He just bought a boat, so we’re fixin’ to go fishing,” Ware said. “I like winning money if I don’t have to pay to enter. It’s a win-win.”

After 20 hours of travel, by plane and bus, I finally made it to Camp Casey, South Korea with the remainder of Fort Hood’s 1st Brigade Combat Team soldiers. For the next several days, I will be following the mission and daily lives of Ironhorse troopers as they begin a nine-month rotation in the land of the morning calm.